Dallas Cowboys Blog

CBS Ch. 11 sports caught up with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones this morning at Valley Ranch on what will be another busy day for him with the NFL lockout over, the free agent frenzy now underway and players set to report to training camp in San Antonio on Wednesday and practice Thursday.

Jones told CBS 11 that the Cowboys coaches worked until 5 a.m. this morning getting in touch with current players, calling rookie free agents and preparing for the opening of training camp. By 8:20 a.m., Jones and the Cowboys coaches were back at Valley Ranch this morning, according to CBS 11.

“We’ve been preparing for this for a couple a months,” Jones told CBS 11. “The scouts and coaches are all ready to go, so we’re ready to hit the ground running.”

Today’s the first day players are allowed to go to Valley Ranch, and CBS 11 said it spotted free agent left tackle Doug Free entering the practice facility. The Cowboys’ top priority is signing Free to solidify the offensive line, though he won’t come cheap.

“We’re in a position to talk to all free agents today and by the end of the day we will have communicated with any player we have an interest in,” Jones told CBS 11.

The Cowboys are about $18 million over the $120 million salary cap and will likely have to restructure contracts of veterans and cut players to make room to help the team through free agency.

“We can get well under the cap and we plan to and still sign any players we want to,” Jones said to CBS 11. “We will be able to do what we want with the cap.”

Jones said the players who are being cut will not be going to training camp and will be notified.

“”I’m in the process of doing that this morning and I will do it personally,” Jones told CBS 11 Sports.

Jones said it won’t be a problem preparing for the season going into training camp a few days late.

“This is a piece of cake compared to what we went through dealing with the labor deal. This is a labor of love, because I get to work on my team,” Jones told CBS 11. “I’m relieved. There was a lot of give and take in the new deal. I am sorry for all the angst for fans, but in the real world fans aren’t fixated on football in the off-season — they are [fixated on it] now and we are ready to go.”